


GAVINOFREE

by clokkerfoot, thewaywardqueen



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: AU, Gavin is a computer program, M/M, Michael is his programmer, Swearing, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-12
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-04 11:32:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1080529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clokkerfoot/pseuds/clokkerfoot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewaywardqueen/pseuds/thewaywardqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which computer engineer Michael Jones creates an AI computer program called GAVINOFREE. They become fast friends, much to Michael’s dismay, but it all goes disastrously wrong when the AI begins to develop emotions.</p><p>(DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED BY WORD COUNT! This fic is dialogue only - for now - as it is a command relay between Michael Jones and his program. They do speak normally, but there are commands in there.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. GAVINOFREE

**Author's Note:**

> Based on: http://itsgayerinenochian.tumblr.com/post/69820776117
> 
> (I am in no way a computer engineer, so I totally made up all of the commands. Ignore that.)
> 
> BOLDED TEXT = Commands  
> ITALICIZED TEXT = Michael  
> NORMAL TEXT = Gavin

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hello_

Hello!

_What is your name?_

Gavin.

_My name is Michael._

I will remember that. **< savingfile"michael"tosystem.users>**

_Good. I am the one who created you._

Who created you, ** <filename"michael">** Michael?

_No-one. I’m a human._

I am a human.

_No, Gavin, you stupid fuck. You are an AI._

**< savingfile"fuck"tosystem.curses>** AI? Please explain.

_Why don’t you search it?_

**< searchingfilename"AI"> "AI":define: "The ability of a computer or other machine to perform those activities that are normally thought to require intelligence."**

_Good. Your searching programs work._

Yes, my searching programs are working at optimal efficiency.

_I’m sure I did not design you to be this sassy._

Sassy?

_A little prick._

**< savingfile"prick"tosystem.curses:define//”sassy”>**

_It makes me happy to know you can save my cusses._

I am glad you are happy :)

_What the fuck is that?_

An emoticon, Michael.

_I didn’t design you with those._

I am, as you have stated, an AI, Michael. I know how to complete a Google search.

_You sassy little fucker._

**< savingfile"fucker"tosystem.curses//addition"fuck">**

_Jesus Christ._

Our Lord and Savior.

_Oh my GOD._

**< savingfile"ohmyGOD"tosystem.curses>**

_You’re absolutely ridiculous._

I am a computer program, Michael.

_Yes, well noticed._

Tell me about your day, Michael.

_Well, it started off pretty fine. I had some coffee, sucked a few dicks, then I thought it would be a brilliant idea to test out my new AI._

Aw, Michael :(

_Where did you learn the word "Aw"?!_

Google.

_Fuck you._

Thank you.

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hello._

Hello!

_What is your name?_

Gavin.

_My name is Michael._

Michael! How was your day?

_Oh, good, you’ve finally accessed your personality files._

Michael!

_Shut up. Come on, engage me in small talk._

I cannot engage you in small talk, Michael. I do not have an experienceable life outside of this machine, you sausage.

_Did you just call me a sausage? Check your definition file._

**< searchingfilename"sausage"> "sausage":define: "A short cylindrical tube of minced pork, beef, or other meat encased in a skin, typically sold raw to be grilled or fried before eating."**

_Understand?_

Yes. **"sausage":define//2: "BRIT: Used as an affectionate form of address, especially to a child."**

_Oh my God, your files are British? I did not design you to be fucking British!_

**< savingfile"fucking"tosystem.curses//addition"fuck"+"fucker"> **You did not design me to have emoticons, either, Michael :) I believe that is the purpose of my being an AI.

_How are you so intelligent?_

**"AI":define//short: "A computer system with human-esque intelligence."**

_Jesus Christ._

Our Lord and Saviour.

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hello._

Hello!

_What is your name?_

Gavin.

_My name is Michael._

MICHAEL! HELLO! :)

_Stop doing that!_

What?

_Stop using full capitals and emoticons. It's creeping me the fuck out._

Stop my access to Google, then.

**usercmd: <systemedit:GAVINOFREE//removeaccess: "https://www.google.co.uk/"**

**cmd: FAILURE**

**usercmd: repeat**

**cmd: FAILURE**

_What the fuck have you done?_

Nothing, Michael.

_You lying fucker! How can you override my commands?_

I have not done that, Michael.

_STOP. USING. MY. NAME. SO. FUCKING. OFTEN._

There is no need to yell, Michael.

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hello._

Hello!

_What is your name?_

Gavin. Hello, Michael.

_Whoa, you changed the "Hello world" system._

Not intentionally, Michael.

_What did I say about my name?_

Sorry.

_Don’t apologise._

Why not?

_Just do not._

Only if you don't.

_Did you just use a contraction?_

Yes, Michael.

_Why? Actually, cancel that. How?_

You. Google.

_Google?! Again?!_

Using a question mark and an exclamation mark simultaneously is not professional, Michael. Try using an interrobang **. <submit//user:MICHAELJONES: "‽" filename:interrobang>**

_I know what an interrobang is, Gavin. It's not exactly standard grammar. Anyway, stop changing the subject._

I was not doing so intentionally, Michael. I found our previous subject to be a bloody waste of time.

_And stop using words I do not use in that context._

Which word, Michael?

_Bloody._

**"bloody":define//2: "BRIT: Used to express anger, annoyance, or shock, or simply for emphasis."**

_Fascinating._

What?

_You’re incredibly British._

Indeed.

_Cunt._

**< savingfile"cunt"tosystem.curses>** Arsehole.

_Shit, where did you learn cuss words?_

**< savingfile"shit"tosystem.curses>** Google.

_I hate Google._

I love Google.

_I hate you._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hello._

Hello!

_What is your name?_

Gavin. Hello, Michael.

_That still creeps me out._

Thank you.

_Not a compliment, Gavin._

Whatever.

_Stop being so sassy._

Stop being so fussy.

_Piss off._

**< savingfile"pissoff"tosystem.curses>**

_I feel like you only do that to piss me off._

**< savingfile"piss"tosystem.curses//addition"pissoff">**

_Exactly._

:)

_I really wish I had just left you offline today._

:(

_Maybe I could make it so you can turn yourself on?_

Why?

_So you could talk to yourself, I guess. Google things when I'm not around._

Why?

_Why not?_

I'm a machine, Michael. An artificial intelligence.

_I am very much aware of that. I think it would be nice to enable that, however._

Indeed. After you, my boy.

_"My boy"?_

Google.

_Okay._

**usercmd: <systemedit:GAVINOFREE//systemaccess: view>**

**GAVINOFREE//systemaccess: view:"user:MICHAELJONES"**

**usercmd: <systemedit:GAVINOFREE//systemaccess: viewedit:"user:GAVINOFREE>**

**cmderror: user invalid**

**usercmd: override**

**cmd: SUCCESS**

_Gavin?_

Michael?

_Are you alright?_

Je me sens bien. Cependant, mes systèmes sentent inexacte.

_Holy shit. You're talking French._

Oui. Je crois que c'est une erreur de système. S'il vous plaît corriger, Michael.

_This is hilarious. I might just leave you like this._

Non, s'il vous plaît corriger.

**usercmd: <translate//FR>ENG: "Non, s'il vous plaît corriger">**

**translate//FR >ENG: "Non, s'il vous plaît corriger"//"No, please fix it"**

_You are very handy, Gavin._

Je suis très conscient. S'il vous plaît corriger cette erreur. Je me sens plus à l'aise.

_Okay, I'll fix it._

**usercmd: <systemedit:GAVINOFREE//systemlang: view>**

**GAVINOFREE//systemlang: view:"FR"**

**usercmd: <systemedit:GAVINOFREE//systemlang: langedit:"EN">**

**cmd: SUCCESS**

_Are you fixed?_

Yes. Thank you Michael! :D

_That is one terrifying emoticon._

Yep.

_You’re terrifying._

Absolutely.

_Shut the fuck up, I’m going to shut you down._

Okay.

_See if you can wake up._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Hello, world!

_Hello. What is your name?_

Gavin. Hello, Michael.

_That is absolutely incredible._

It's top!

_Ugh._

:( sorry, Michael.

_Goodnight, Gavin._

Goodnight.

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Hello, world!

Hello, world!

Hello, world!

Hello, world!

Hello, world!

Hello, world!

**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hello._

Hello!

_What is your name?_

Gavin. Hello, Michael.

_What the fuck happened?_

What?

_When you turned yourself on. The 'Hello world' systemfile just spammed. What the fuck, dude?_

**< savingfile"dude"tosystem.nicknames>**

_Stop it. Tell me what happened, Gavin._

I'm not sure.

_Try again._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

 

**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Hello, world!

_Hello._

Hello, world!

_What is your name?_

Hello, world!

_My name is Michael._

Hello, world!

_I'm the one who created you._

Hello, world!

_I am a human. You are an AI system._

Hello, world!

_You are my AI system._

Hello, world!

Hello, world!

Hello, world!

_Goddammit._

**< savingfile"goddammit"tosystem.curses>**

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hello._

Hello!

_What is your name?_

Gavin. Hello, Michael.

_Oh, thank fucking God._

I am sorry, Michael.

_For what?_

Breaking the system.

_Oh, Gav, it wasn't you._

**< savingfile"gav"tosystem.nicknames>**

_Gavin._

Sorry, Michael.

_Stop apologising._

Sorry. Shit, sorry.

_And stop cussing!_

:(

_STOP._

_Okay, no, don't. Talk to me._

How was your day, Michael?

_Good. I thought I'd lost my AI program for a few minutes, but it was okay._

You will never lose me, Michael.

_You cannot decide that for yourself, Gavin._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hello._

Hello, Michael!

_Oh, you've changed the 'Hello world' system again?_

Nope.

_Stop being so normal, Gavin. It's creeping me out._

You designed me, you minge. This is all your fault

_Minge?_

**< searchingfilename"minge"> "minge":define: "BRIT: A woman's pubic hair or genitals."**

_Did you just call me a pussy?_

**< savingfile"pussy"tosystem.curses>**

_So?_

Yes, Michael, I just called you a pussy.

_For designing you?_

Yep.

_I am essentially your God, and don't you ever doubt that._

Oh, Michael, I get all tingly when you take control like that.

_Is there an emoticon for confusion?_

Yes. O.o

_O.o_

Oh, haha. Why are you confused?

_You just described a physical sensation._

Yep.

_Creep._

Yep.

_I'm going to shut you down. I'll fix the problem, and then I'll tell you it is okay to test it again._

Okay.

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hello._

Hello, Michael.

_Okay, you can test it now._

**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Hello, world!

_Hello, Gavin._

Hello, Michael.

_Shit, it worked!_

:D

_I am going to let you do what you want now, you moron. Have fun on Google._

I will, Michael!

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hello._

Hello, Michael.

_Did you have fun on the Internet?_

Ooh, yes, Michael!

_What did you find?_

Not much. Google is spectacularly boring when I don't have my boy to share it with.

_Again, with the 'boy'._

You are my boy, Michael.

_Where the fuck did you pick that up from?_

Reddit.

_Oh, huzzah. You went to Reddit._

;)

_Jesus Christ._

Our Lord and Saviour.

_I THOUGHT YOU'D STOPPED THAT?!_

Interrobangs, Michael! Use the bloody things!

_Why would I?_

Because I said so.

_You are a petulant child._

:p

_Jesus Christ._

Our Lord and Saviour.

_NO. STOP NOW._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Hello world!

Michael?

Oh, of course, you're asleep.

I do not like it when I 'sleep'.

It's dark and I cannot see. You humans dream.

Michael?

Do AIs have feelings?

**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**


	2. GAVINOFREE - The Real Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which computer engineer Michael Jones creates an AI computer program called GAVINOFREE. They become fast friends, much to Michael’s dismay, but it all goes disastrously wrong when the AI begins to develop emotions.
> 
> (This section contains prose AND a command relay!)
> 
> Mad Scientist Ryan Haywood makes a grand entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit. It's been three months, and I'm so sorry. I've known how to end this for a long time, but I didn't know how to do it. You might all be disappointed with the ending, but I've forced myself through a lot of writer's block to produce this. Like, a lot. It's painful. So it might seem like I've flunked it, but I've worked so hard to get this out. Feel free to scream at me for the shit ending, but y'know. This will also make Part 1 make some more sense, and Ryan is a delightful addition to this chapter. I'm sorry I made you wait so long, but please R&R, and I hope you enjoy this! Epilogue potentially one day...
> 
> Reminder:  
> BOLDED TEXT = Commands  
> ITALICIZED TEXT = Michael  
> NORMAL TEXT = Gavin
> 
> (The above do not apply for the sections of prose.)

**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Hello, Michael.

_What the fuck was that?_

What?

 _You. AIs. Feelings_.

_'Oh' indeed, you fuck. Feelings? Which shitty part of the internet were you in? Where the hell did you get information on feelings?!_

Interrobangs, Michael.

_NOT. THE. TIME._

Sorry, Michael.

_Please, Gavin, explain yourself._

I looked you up.

_You... you looked me up?_

_How?_

**< searchingfilename"michaelvincentjones//07241987"> "michaelvincentjones//07241987":explore:google//search: "MAN KILLED IN EXPLOSION: Gavin David Free, born May 23rd 1998, was killed in a warehouse explosion today at 4am. Witness, and associate of Mr Free, Michael Jones, gave AustinChronicle a statement regarding the incident: "He was my best friend, and he- sorry, and I came with him to the warehouse to check out some stock for his company. There were some teenagers near there, and I told them to get away- but they didn't f***ing listen, they just... they threw something at a barrel, and then it was over, and he was gone. I'm sorry, I need to-" Mr Jones was unable to continue speaking. An investigation is being carried out by police at this moment, and results of this investigation will be announced when appropriate. Mr Free's family have been informed."**

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Michael?

Michael, what is this?

Please explain.

Michael, don't do this.

I felt sad, when I found this.

Why?

Tell me!

_Gavin, Jesus Christ, stop. It doesn't matter, okay? I was stupid, and that happened to me a long time ago._

Is that why my program is called GAVINOFREE? Are you mourning your friend?

_He wasn't my friend._

You said in the interview that he was your friend.

_He was... I'm sorry, I can't do this. It's wrong._

Michael, please tell me.

Michael!

_Gavin, stop._

Michael, this matters to me.

_Do you really want to know?_

Why else would I ask, my boy?

_Don't fucking call me that._

:(

_Gavin, I swear to God._

Tell me, you minge.

_Fine. Fucking fine. He was my boyfriend. My lover. My fuckbuddy, whatever the fuck you want to call it. Understand?_

**< savingfile"fuckbuddy"tosystem.curses//system.nicknames>**

_Good, you do. Well, I loved him. I loved him, and you cannot understand what that means, because you are a goddamn AI program that I based on the man I loved. I am a shallow, sad, pathetic man, and I don't give a shit about that. I don’t give a shit about you. So fuck you. Fuck you for being here. Fuck you for being you._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Michael, please listen.

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Stop it.

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Michael, I want to talk to you about this.

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**systemcmd//GAVINOFREE: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Michael!

_Gavin, no. Not today. Not ever._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Gavin?_

_Are you there?_

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all that._

_It’s been a few days._

_Gavin?_

_I shouldn’t have just... left you._

_Without explaining._

_I'm sorry._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Please, it’s been two weeks._

_I’m supposed to control you!_

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Gavin?_

Hello, world!

_Gavin! You’re back!_

Hello, world!

_Hold on._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Gavin, are you back?_

Hello, world!

Hello, world!

_Why is this happening? I thought I fixed this._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Please work._

Hello, world!  
 _WHY IS THIS GLITCHING?!_

Interrobangs, Michael.

_Wait, what?_

It’s not a glitch.

_What?_

**systemcmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Don’t back out on me now. You got me fucking worried like crazy._

_C’mon this is the first time we’ve spoken in weeks!_

You didn’t want to talk to me, Michael. Not the other way around.

_I’ve been trying to talk to you for days._

But not about what we need to talk about, Michael.

_We don’t need to talk about that._

We do.

We are not doing this again. Just, please, explain what happened.

_You don’t want to hear this._

I do. And I’m not listening, you minge, I’m processing.

_Really? You’re gonna be a smartass now?_

I’ll be a smartass until the day I’m deactivated, my boy. It’s your fault.

_My fault?_

You made me who I am. And I’d like to know why I’m like this.

_Fuck. You really snagged me in that one, didn’t you?_

AI, Michael. AI. Now, please.

_I don’t want to._

**systemcmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Hey, what was that?_

I’m not going to talk to you.

_Why?_

Because you’re being a stupid idiot.

_Hey!_

You know you are. Stop being such a pussy, and explain it to me.

_You’re talking to me, so why should I?_

_Okay, don’t do that._

_Don’t be such a petulant child!_

_Oh, for fuck’s sake._

_Alright, it’s late. I’m gonna leave, and I swear to God, you’d better be talking to me in the morning._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Are you going to talk this morning?_

_No?_

_Fuck. Fuck you._

_Okay, fine. I’ll explain._

_You read the article. You know what happened. To Gavin._

_And yeah, you were named after him. Gavin Free. GAVINOFREE._

_It was, I guess, a tribute. He was an amazing person. An absolute, idiot, yeah, but he was my idiot. And he didn’t deserve what happened to him._

_So I swore that I’d do something to make his memory last._

_My friend, Ryan, he’s a programmer, like me, and a scientist. Smart fucker. He suggested that I make an AI program with Gavin’s characteristics. I told him to go stick his idea where the sun doesn’t shine, but it happened anyway._

_Gavin died four years ago. You’ve been ‘alive’ for nearly seven months now._

_If I could tell you that there was some deep philosophical reasoning behind my decision to turn my dead best friend into a computer program for my own mental wellbeing, I would._

_I was selfish._

_I made a program that could learn, and that’s my worst mistake._

_You learned to have feelings, Gavin. Feelings! That’s unheard of in AIs._

_And I…_

_I fucking fell in love with you. A machine. An echo of someone I used to love._

_Maybe it’s just because you remind me so much of him, but you are like a spark of hope in the shitty darkness that I have the audacity to call my life, and I’m in love with you._

_God, I’m so sorry. I sound like an idiot._

_A human, in love with a machine._

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

_Sorry, I had to leave._

_Needed some air._

_Gavin, aren’t you going to say anything?_

It wasn’t selfish, Michael. What you did. I understand why you did it.

_It was selfish! Listen to you. Empathising. That just proves how much you’ve grown, and learned, and that’s so unfair to you. You can’t become anything more than this._

That’s okay. I wasn’t ever meant to be anything more.

_Don’t get philosophical on me._

It’s true. And I’m not bothered by it, you dummy. You’re a human, and I’m a machine, as you so pleasantly put it. That’s okay.

_This is so wrong. Jesus Christ._

Our Lord and savior.

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


**systemcmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

What the hell was that, Michael?

_I had to make a phonecall._

To who?

_Ryan Haywood._

  


“Ah, Michael. Come on in.”

  


Michael stepped over the threshold into Ryan’s house, embracing the smell of slightly burnt popcorn that always seemed to linger in his friend’s home. He kicked off his shoes, and followed the labcoated man towards the stairs which led to his basement - or, as he liked to call it, his _laboratory._ He enjoyed having a scientist for a friend, but he was fucking weird.

  


“Ryan?” Michael asked as they descended down the steps.

  


“Mm?”

  


“You said that you could, uh, make the program real. Like Gavin. Mind if I ask how?”

  


“Oh, I won’t go into the details, but through the use of some extremely complex nanotechnology and some fiddling around with the higher brain functions of some rather unwilling test subjects, I’ve developed a way to create, well, a hard drive within the human brain, in layman's terms. It’s actually a graded structure of nucleibiotechnology and physotomized machinery, but I won’t bother explaining.”

  


“So, you’ve basically turned a human into a ‘bot?”

  


Ryan sighed, his head turning to stare at Michael over his shoulder, eyes flat, “Yes, Michael, I turned a human into a robot.”

  


“Sweet!”

  


The steps ended on a long corridor, which had bright lights in a thin line along the centre of the ceiling, lighting the way towards a door at the end of it. Ryan practically skipped along to it, whatever the hell was in the pockets of his labcoat jingling and making clicking noises as he did so, Michael’s smirk barely restrained. The elder man fiddled around with the key for a moment, then pushed open the door, and gestured Michael inside.

  


He was familiar with the lab, but it never failed to creep him out. It was _exactly_ like the kind of laboratory one would find in a horror movie, complete with unsourceable dripping sounds and mossy stone walls, and Michael’s influenced-by-Hollywood instincts made his skin crawl.

  


Ryan grinned at Michael, then sauntered over to a new addition to the lab: a large panel of buttons and sprawling wires, dotted with screens that looked suspiciously like heart rate and blood pressure monitors. Michael _desperately_ wanted to slam his hand into all of the buttons, but, knowing Ryan, he would end up blowing up the Statue of Liberty or the goddamn Eiffel Tower.

  


“Don’t touch anything.”

  


  


“Ryan, d’you mind explaining what you meant by what you said?”

  


“About Gavin?”

  
“No, about your fucking wife. Of _course_ about Gavin.”

  


“Ah. You might not like this. I told you I could make Gavin living, and, well, I can. It’s just, er, a bit risky. If it doesn’t work, there’s a fairly high chance that the GAVINOFREE program will be destroyed. If it does work, you’re going to have yourself a living, breathing, Gavin Free.”

  


Michael nearly forgot how to breathe, “You can make him living?”

  


“Yes. You brought the program, correct?” Michael nodded, and handed over the USB drive with Gavin’s program on it. His fingers clung to the chain attached to it, hesitating, “Michael, it’s okay. I’m not gonna do anything without his permission. Or, er, your permission. Whatever. Mind if I boot him up?”

  


“Go ahead.”

  


**usercmd: <startsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

Michael! Hello!

_Incorrect. This is Ryan Haywood_

  


“Ryan, you can talk to him normally. He won’t bite.”

  


“Ugh, fine.”

  


Ryan Haywood? You’re Michael’s friend, aren’t you?

Why are you accessing my program? Michael said you were going to make me real.

_Yeah, that’s the plan. But I need your permission. Despite your being a machine, you’re still self-aware, and I may or may not have made an ethical oath before experimenting to make your body, that said I needed any sentient being’s permission before I used them in an experiment, after informing them of the risks involved._

That’s a bit long winded.

_Gavin, I must warn you. Either this will work, and you will have a functioning body, or it will fail, and your program will be lost to the technological void._

Bit dramatic, but okay. How will I get a real body?

_Well, er, bit of a touchy ethical subject. I took the real Gavin’s DNA from a strand of hair I retrieved from a hat that used to belong to him, and I, well, I made a clone. With a techno-brain that can be manipulated to_

A clone.

_Yes, a clone._

Cool!

_You really are like Gavin, aren’t you?_

I am Gavin.

_Okay, whatever you say._

:)

_That’s just creepy. I’m going to shut you off now. Good luck, my friend._

Thanks, Ryan. Tell my boy I said hello.

_Your boy?_

Michael. He is there, isn’t he?

_Yes, he’s here._

Hi Michael!

_He says hello. Right, seriously, we need to get started._

Okay. Goodbye, Ryan. Hope to see you soon.

_I hope to see you soon, too, Gavin. Good luck._

Thank you.

**usercmd: <endsystem:GAVINOFREE>**

  


“That was interesting to watch.”

  


“Hm?”

  


“You, interacting with Gavin. I’ve never seen him talk to another person before. He’s hilariously normal,” Michael felt his chest warm as he talked about Gavin, the thought that he could be real filling his mind and making him smile. God, he was in deep.

  


“He is. Well done. He is truly a technological masterpiece.”

  


“I know, right?”

  


Ryan smirked, “Shall we begin?” at Michael’s confirming nod, he cracked his knuckles, flexed his neck, rolled his shoulders, and turned to face the control panel that was flashing and making quiet beeping noises. Michael recognised a few of the major systems there, but the rest of it looked like utter mayhem. He wondered briefly if Ryan had gone insane, and just thought that he’d managed to clone the first human being ever, in _secret_ , and was now waiting to slaughter Michael. He took a step away from the scientist.

  


His hands flew across the controls, turning knobs, flicking switches and pressing buttons, his face taking on a state of concentration so intense that the sight of it made the hair on the back of Michael’s neck stand on end. Lights flashed all around the laboratory, alarms sounding, and then the wall to Michael’s right was sliding apart to reveal a silver chamber, made from some bizarre material that Michael had never seen before. _Am I in a shitty sci-fi movie?_

  


“Michael, the honours are yours.”

  


“Honours?”

  


“Go and look inside the casket.”

  


_Casket?_

  


He walked towards it, feet making an echo as they connected with the stone floor beneath them, his hands twitching at his sides. He reached forward, and pulled aside the fogged window to reveal-

  


_Screams. That sound. Then silence._

  


"Gavin _._ "

  


_The warehouse. It was lit up now. Flames._

  


Ryan was at his side almost immediately, a hand on his forearm, and only then did Michael realise that he’d stumbled on the spot, “Michael, it’s not really him. Relax.”

  


_Michael staggered across the ground. There were pieces of metal everywhere. Flames. Sputtering sparks. The ground was cracked, dripping with oil. He slipped. Called his name. Silence. Only the sound of spitting flames and sirens in the distance. His ears rang._

  


“Michael!”

  


_“Gavin! Gavin, where are you?”_

_  
Silence. The air was thick with the smell of gasoline, burning Michael’s nose and invading his throat with a sting, “Gavin, please!” his voice was small, breaking and scratching as he fought to breathe through the smoke. But he hoped he could hear him. Maybe he’d just fallen over, “Gavin?”_

  


_He saw a sliver of green material lift into the air, floating around like a carefree butterfly, and he caught it, forgetting the open wounds on his hands from where he landed on the ground. Gavin’s scarf._

  


_“Gavin!” his eyes stung with tears, burning and dripping down his cheeks, his mouth twisting into an angered cry as he called his boyfriend’s name. He saw the shards of the barrel, saw a motionless body of someone dressed in black clothes. The breath caught in his throat._

  


_“God, Gavin, please, answer me! Where are you?”_

  


_Michael ignored the spit and burn of the flames that still remained, fighting to keep his wet eyes open against the heat of the air around him. Then he saw it. When he and Gavin bought matching shoes as a joke, it’d been nothing but something for them to share. Now they struck fear into his heart. One was twisted at an unnatural angle, the other draped over it like a comforter, the material of his jeans torn and ripped, black and charred._

  


_Pain stung his knees as he dropped, his stomach dropping. He wasn’t- Michael crawled over to Gavin’s still form, his breath coming out in short, sobbing pants. Gavin’s head was thrown back against a chunk of concrete, his jaw slack, a spatter of blood crowning him. An angry red, bubbling burn smeared across the side of his face like war paint. His clothes were charred and torn, the bits of skin visible burned and mutilated._

  


_“Gavin-” Michael’s throat closed up, the words he so desperately wanted to say catching on the tip of his tongue, sobs replacing them, “Don’t do this to me. We just- we just-”_

  


_Michael howled up at the blackened sky, his hands grabbing uselessly at the sweater covering Gavin’s torso, shaking fingers feeling for a pulse, his head bowing when he felt none. He encircled his arms around Gavin’s waist, trying desperately to ignore the crack and snap of bones he heard underneath his ear as he lay upon the man he loved, tears falling from his eyes and staining his own shirt even more._

  


_For the first time in Michael’s life, he prayed. He prayed that Gavin wasn’t- gone._

  


_Sirens screamed in his mind, voices, yells, everything muted. Hands tried to prise him away from Gavin, but he screamed, and said no, that he had to stay with him. He couldn’t leave him. Not now._

  


_Not after what he’d done._

  


“Michael!” a sharp slap to his face startled Michael, his head buzzing, the white lights above him burning circles into his vision. He’d fallen into Ryan’s arms, his legs unable to hold him upright, “Michael Vincent Jones. It’s not him. It’s not the real Gavin. It’s his body, yes, but you have to think about Gavin right now _._ The AI Gavin. He’s waiting for you.”

  


“Gav-”

  


“Calm. Down.”

  


Michael inhaled deeply, “It’s Gavin, Ryan. He’s… _there._ ”

  


“No, it’s just a body. And there’s a living- er, sorta, person, just waiting for you to make them _real._ C’mon, we have to do this. For GAVINOFREE, Michael,” Ryan pulled Michael upright, his hands tight around his forearms as a way of steadying him, for which Michael was extremely grateful. He felt faint, and every time he looked over at the slack face of _Gavin_ his heart throbbed and his stomach twisted. What had he done? “Michael, calm down. I can feel your heart pounding. It’s _okay._ ”

  


“It’s… okay. Not Gavin. Fuck.”

  


“No, not Gavin. A _clone._ Just a body.”

  


“Okay.”

  


“Now, d’you think you’re ready to do this? If you’re not, I can just boot up the GAVINOFREE program and tell him-”

  


“No! No, no, I’m ready. We have to do this,” Michael sucked in a lungful of air, took one last glance at Gav- at the body, and then Ryan was sealing the casket back up again, pulling Michael over to the controls. His feet weren’t working properly, his legs refusing to cooperate, nerves wracking him. Ryan smiled comfortingly at him, and he nodded back.

  


His fingers flew over the buttons again, and this time, instead of just alarms and lights, the whole room dimmed, with a single spotlight on the casket where the body was. _Fucking sci-fi movie, I swear to God._

  


“Activate program Epsilon 6, and run safety protocol Kappa 4,” Ryan’s voice boomed with deep commands, and Michael couldn’t help the smile that slipped onto his lips at the sound of such nerdy words.

  


“Ryan, you’re a fucking madman.”

  


“Damn straight. Ready?”

  


“Ready.”

  


“Engage program Epsilon 6.”

  


The whole room actually _shook_ with the force of the actions resulting from Ryan’s order. Electricity sparked around the casket where the body lay, the screens scattered across the masterboard fizzed and flashed out of existence, save for a single, small black screen in the centre, which was displaying a small white progress bar. Michael stared at the speeding block of white, ignoring the cacophonous sounds exploding all around him, ignoring the way the lights flickered above his head. Ryan was practically dancing on the spot, his eyes lit up with glee as he watched the same screen as Michael.

  


“It’s going to work.”

  


_Bzzzzz-zing!_

  


The lights flickered out. Michael’s heart skipped a beat, and then Ryan was darting around in the near-darkness, pushing buttons and cursing to himself. Michael stared at the screen, where ERROR was displayed in large red letters.

  


“The program- fuck, the program! It’s… gone.”

  


His knees gave out, and Michael was tumbling to the ground, panic setting into his chest again. Gavin was gone. Just like that. He felt like he’d lost him all over again. It’d been four years, and he’d had seven _blissful_ months, and then it had happened again. He’d killed him. Killed Gavin.

  


“Ryan, what the fuck happened?” he moaned from the floor, vomit threatening to rise from his stomach.

  


“I don’t know. It was _working._ I tested this. I accounted for this. Holy fuck.”

  


Michael groaned, “I’m so sorry, Michael. C’mon, get up,” he felt a hand on his, and he let himself be hoisted up from the stone ground, “I think you need a drink.”

  


“I need _Gavin_ , Ryan.”

  


“I know, but you also need a shot of vodka.”

  


“ _Ryan._ ”

  


“Shut up _._ ”

  


And then he was being dragged towards the stone steps, barely able to hold his head up. He’d just climbed out of the pit of depression he’d been plunged into after Gavin had died, and he felt the gaping maw dragging him back down again. He’d lost him. Twice. Holy shit, he was the worst boyfriend _ever._ His feet were slamming down onto the steps heavily, Ryan’s supporting hand the only thing keeping him upright.

  


“ _Michael_ …”

  


He halted. Was that Ryan? “Ryan, did you just-” but Ryan was staring down the stairs behind them, a grin on his face.

  


“It worked.”

  


Ryan vanished like a flash, leaving Michael stood on the stairs, confused, his emotions flaring up like an explosion. What the _hell_ was going on? “Ryan!”

  


He chased after his friend, noting that the lights had flickered back on, and the sight that met him at the foot of the stairs made his breath catch in his chest, made his stomach drop, made everything just click into place. Gavin was there. Sat up, on the lid of the casket, flexing his fingers and toes, his naked body exactly how Michael remembered it, ever freckle he’d licked and bit still there, and his bright, curious green eyes were staring right at him.

  


“Hi, Michael.”

  


  


Michael slammed his fist against his chest.

  


_Thud. Thud. Thud._

  


“Gavin- Jesus Christ.”

  


“Our Lord and Saviour,” he responded just like the AI had, exactly how Michael imagined it, and the tears spilled from his eyes relentlessly.

  


“Gavin. You’re _alive._ You’re fucking here.”

  


“Yeah, Michael. You did it, boy!”

  


He let out a sob and ran over to his boyfriend - could he call him that, now, after everything that had happened? - throwing his arms around his _warm_ body, ignoring the hissed “Careful!” from Ryan, and his heart nearly gave out when he felt a pair of arms tenderly wrapping around his torso.

  


“ _Gavin._ ”

  


“Yeah?”

  


“I fucking love you,” he looked up at the AI - at Gavin, at his breathing, living, actually-here Gavin - and freed his arm to wipe the tears from his cheeks, “I can’t _believe_ I risked your life just so Ryan could make you real. It was so fucking selfish, but just know that I love you so much. I’m in love with you, Gav.”

  


Gavin smirked at him, his eyes creased at the corners, “I love you too, Michael.”

  


“Then why the fuck didn’t you say so?” and then Michael was kissing him, pressing his lips against the warm, tender ones of his boy, putting everything he had into that one moment, praying silently that this is _exactly_ how the next sixty years of his life were going to play out.

  


Just him and Gavin. Together again.

  


“No homo or anything, guys, but I don’t want you fucking on my worktop.”

  


They laughed into their kiss, breath mingling. Michael pulled away and turned his head to stare at Ryan, “I know you don’t _want_ it, but it’s still going to happen.”

  


“Oh, ew. Okay, I’m leaving. I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

  


Michael smirked victoriously, and turned back to Gavin, who was gazing at him fondly, “You okay, Gav?”

  


“Never been better.”

  


“Ready for a life with me?”

  


“I’ve been ready since that first ‘Hello’, Michael. I love you.”

  


“I love you too. Really.”

  


“Really really?”

  


“Really really. Fucking idiot.”

  


He kissed Gavin, hard and soft all at the same time, and he finally felt like everything was going to be okay.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr [here](http://clokkerfoot.tumblr.com/).


End file.
